Fishing Worms – How to Get the Best Worms for Fishing

The quickest and easiest way to collect the superior fishing worms from your garden!

Worms are a super fishing bait. Their irresistable wriggling movement, combined with their natural releasing of amino acids into the water, excite and hunger fish often resulting in frantic feeding. They have the potential to catch almost all types of coarse species, appealing to smaller fish along with the larger specimens, and can be used on the hook as well as chopped into groundbait and mixes. The best thing about this killer bait… they’re free!

There are several types of worm suitable for fishing including lobworms, redworms and brandlings, and although they are available in many tackle shops the beauty of worms as a fishing bait is that they are freely and easily accessible if you know how to collect them…

How to Find & Gather Worms from your Garden

If you don’t have a grass lawn area than you will have to find a nearby park or patch of grass close to home.

Conditions
The best time to collect lobworms is at night (or in the dark) when there has been rain. As a general rule the wetter the better as the damper the surface the more the worms enjoy ‘surfacing’. Under the right conditions (and with a bit of practice) you will be able to collect a worm a minute.

The worms will be fresh and healthy (unlike some weary tackle shop worms), and their size is often monstrous compared to what shops offer.

Worm Gathering Equipment

Torch – Too bright and it will scare the worms into retreat, too dim and you will not be able to see the worms effectively. Just bright enough to reflect off the glistening sheen of the worms so you can spot them is ideal. Try dampening the light with some tape if it is too bright. You might also find a head torch easier.

Cup – A container to pop the worms in temporarily as you collect them.

Worm Tub – A larger worm tub for keeping the worms over longer periods. You will need to use adequate soil/grass/moss for the worms and change the substrate fortnightly to keep them healthy.

Quick Hands – You will be surprised how quickly worms can retreat into the ground at night, and sometimes they can be difficult to pick up without splitting them, however with a bit of practice you will soon be picking whole worms out effortlessly.

Worm Collecting Tactics

Head out to your area of lawn under the right conditions with the necessary equipment (see above). Being stealthy is key to a successful worm collecting trip, heavy footsteps will scare the worms into the ground, so tread lightly. With a suitable torch slowly make your way around the area strategically so as not to tread or take unnecessary steps that could disturb and scare the worms into retreat.

Take half steps and keep the torch low enough to the ground so it reflects off the worms sheen, do not focus the light directly on the worms as this will cause them to retreat and bury themselves in the ground becoming irretrievable. Keep the worms in the edges of the torch light so there is just enough light for you to see them, and when you do grab them.

Some will lay fully out on the surface and as such will be easy to pick up and pop into the collection cup, but many will partially anchor themselves in the ground. You will not be able to force these worms out straight without splitting them unless you take some time. Gentle tugs on the worm will eventually force it to release its grip and slide out of the ground.

Practice makes perfect with worm collecting, if you have a good torch and conditions are right you should be able to gather more than enough, just transport them from the collection container into the worm tub at the end of the hunt, and take out how ever many you need for the session. This way you are guaranteed a supply of fresh and healthy worms and hopefully some more fish!